Best powder load for T/C .50 Encore

I have a T/C encore .50 cal. muzzleloader and have been shooting with (2) 50 grain pyrodox pellets (100 grains total). I've been using T/C 240 grain sabots and getting pretty good groups.

I read a lot about people using 150 grains of powder.

How much powder have most of you been using to get your best groups at 100 yards?

You didn't mention the size of your groups, but if you are getting good groups now, why change anything? Sounds like you are doing very well with what you are shooting.

Increasing your powder load to 150 grains will make a bigger bang on both ends but will not necessarily improve accuracy, quite likely may hurt your accuracy. Just have to try it and see how it works out in your gun and on your shoulder.

Good luck.

Dave

our omega shoots better with 150 but my encore shoots about the same with 100 as 150.

just never know. def more kick though

I'm getting good groups at 75 yards, probably 2". At 100 yards it opens up to around 5", but I think it might be me not being steady. I will try to shoot some more today. Thanks guys.

my encore shot about 1.5 inches with 100 grains of loose pyrodex a 250 grain shock wave with mmp long sabots. never saw the need for 150 gr of powder.
as a side note the new shock waves come with a new type sabot that is very slick and makes loading very easy but they don't shoot worth a flip in my gun. sabots are as important and the bullet and powder charge
5 inches at a 100 is not what that rifle should be capable of.

BC

Your gun should be capable of doing much better than a 5" group at 100 yards provided all is tight, you are on a good rest, are very steady, can execute a smooth trigger pull, the bullet/powder load is one the gun likes, etc. If all else is good, then do a little experimentation to find the bullet/powder combination that shoots best in your gun.

Change to different bullets, sabots, etc. and see if any shoot better than the others. Note, a loose fitting easy to load sabot/bullet will not likely be the most accurate. It is usually the tighter fitting sabot/bullets that will shoot the best.

Try different powders and amount of powder. Some guns shoot better with more or less powder. You can also try different primers. Some are hotter than others and do effect accuracy.

There is some very good info on the Modern Muzz website at: http://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/phpBB/ Go there and click on "Inline Muzzleloading" or "New To Muzzleloading" and you can read alot of good info about the gun, loads, shooting for accuracy, etc.

Check out the info on the new Blackhorn 209 powder. It is said to be the best and cleanest burning powder for a muzz gun. It is a loose grain type powder and while it is not as convenient as using the pellets, it does allow you to vary the powder load in small increments to achieve best accuracy.

It sounds like you just need some range work with a good rest of sandbags or similar and some experimentation with differnt loads to find what your gun shoots best.

Good luck.

Dave1

I have the same gun, currently i am using 100 grain of pyrodex pellets and 250 grain shockwave sabots. At 150 yards i'm shooting inch & half groups. When I get some more time I want to dail it in using loose powder. Each gun has a sweet load that it likes. you can't do this with the pellets.

Remember to run a cleaning patch to prevent fouling & a bore butter patch to condition the barrel between each shot in order to consistant. The more you shoot using the bore butter, the better your grouping is going to get. I do this even when in the field. It only takes a couple minutes to do it.

Also, get a trigger job done - i have a 3# squeeze now.

Good Luck

same gun I have...shot about 6 hours saturday with this load...best 3 shot group was under 1" @100 yards....

75 grainsby weight(110 grain by volume) of blackhorn 209
250 grain Hornady SST
Harvester SHORT Black sabot (the one made for 300 grain or less bullets)

sighted in 2" high at 100 yards, three rounds within a 1" square box (3/4" group)

backed up to 150 yards and she dropped 2 shots about 1" below dead bullseye...I was extremely impressed with this new BH209 powder

side note....

If you do try the BH209 powder...DO NOT swab between shots!!!

I found this out after my first attempt with it....it shot good but not the groups that others were getting....went back and did some research and found out that swabbing after each shot actually hurt performance instead of making it better...the after shot residue actually helps to create a better gas seal , but it never increased the amout of pressure it took to load or seat the bullet

My friend was with me saturday...he also had an Encore,he used the same bullet & the same sabot... but he used 100 gr (2 pellets) of 777.....and his group ranged from 1.5" to 2.5"and he had to run a spit patch then a dry patch down the barrel just to get the bullet to seat correctly after each shot......just for fun, we loaded his gun up with bh209 and he was able to bring his group in to under 1.25" @ 100yards

Thanks for the tips guys. I shot it again on Saturday and the groups were touching at 50 yards, but when I went out to 100 yards they opened up quite a bit. I did buy a box of 777 pellets Saturday that I wanted to try out. I will try out some of your suggestions, thanks. I will check out the BH 209 powder.